Trust Part 1
by sunderlandprincess
Summary: The sequel to Romeo and Juliet--Tyler has a problem...will this ruin Val's relationship with him?
1. Default Chapter Title

Trust

Hey all! This is "Trust" the sequel to my story series "Romeo and Juliet". This will be in instalments, as well. As we all know, I don't own any of the characters, although I wish I did—anyway, let's get on with it.

***

Val had no trouble adjusting to the fact that Tyler Connell, the love of her life, was now _officially_ her boyfriend. Although she fretted a little bit more about her clothes and spent a little too much time smiling, she felt happy inside. So far, the New Year was going pretty well. 

On a frosty Saturday morning in January, she walked briskly into the heated EMS station and dropped her car keys on the counter, grinning, as usual, and sat herself down on the high chair next to Tyler. 

"Good morning." He told her enthusiastically and they fell into a quick, yet heated, kiss of greeting. Val revelled in the fact that she didn't have to worry anymore about trying to get Tyler to be her boyfriend, she could just enjoy the fact that he _was_. It was a crazy feeling to know that someone loved her as much as she loved him. She'd never felt that before and it was refreshing. 

"Same to you." She said, turning to sit in a normal position—Alex wasn't fond of 'canoodling' on the job and it was kind of embarrassing to be kissing even in front of their friends, who would, undoubtedly, file in slowly after. _And that's my biggest problem?_ She thought to herself. _Boy, am I the luckiest person in the world, or what?_

_ _

_***_

_ _

The night was cool, but when Tyler came storming in to the station around 11:00, the temperature rose dramatically. Anger seethed from his skin and Val could just tell from her seat on the couch that something had gone terribly wrong. Red-faced Tyler slammed his stuff down and pivoted twice on his heel, completely ignoring Val, who was giving him a _look _and Hank, who, wisely, was leaving the room. 

"What's wrong?" She asked, surprised. 

"It's William. One more…oooh…I'm not going to say it because it's rated R!" He cried, the little vein in his neck popping out as the blood coursed through it in his rage. 

Val stood up to meet him and put her hand on his. "Calm down for a sec. What is it this time?"

"He's just being so…he just tries to ruin my life. I swear!" His hand clenched around hers and when he realized how strong his grasp was he immediately softened and let go. 

"It's all right. He's not here now. Just chill out." She tried to reason with him but it was no use, she had no idea what was going on.

"But you don't understand. He's in my head! I can't get rid of him…every damn second of every day…it's so stupid!" He cried, seeming to nearly explode as if when he said the words it wasn't enough to get out all the anger. 

"Shh…come on. Sit down." Val tried the next approach. Seduction—hey, it could work. She hated to see him so crazed. It scared her, really _scared_ her. She led him gently over to the old yellow couch and he sat with an angry _thump_ the air around him even seeming to echo his anger.

"I'm so sorry." Tyler took both her hands this time and they sat close together, resting their hands on each other's thighs. "I shouldn't blow up at you over here." The colour drained as quickly from his face as he had come in, although his rage still settled throughout the small and comfortable room.

"It's okay." She leaned over and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Just calm down, okay? He's gone now…just forget about him."

He looked deep into her knowing blue eyes and smiled. "That's easy…" They met for another luscious kiss. "…when I have the most beautiful, talented, smart, and greatest kissing girlfriend in the world."

"Greatest kissing?" Val giggled, and then gave him a long look. "How can you know? Have you been comparing?"

He knew he'd stuck his foot in his mouth but just laughed. "I just know."

***

Tyler sidled into the EMS station Sunday morning two hours late for his shift. He carried his winter coat idly over his arm and a bottle of water in his other hand, apparently not seeming to know he was late. His face showed a sappy grin as though he had just won the lottery and was getting over the shock.

"It's about time." Val told him harshly from behind a magazine, not meaning it to be funny or friendly. She was really disappointed in him—this was the first time since she'd known him that he'd ever been late for a shift and now he was walking in as though nothing were wrong.

"For what?" He asked, setting down his stuff and nodding at Jaime and Hank at the table. 

"For what? Tyler…the shift? Ten o'clock? It's twelve," she glanced at the clock. "it's twelve oh two. Where were you all morning?" 

"Oh," He muttered, and made himself a seat next to Val. "I guess I just lost track of time." For some reason, this was definitely not the Tyler that Val had fallen in love with—where was the real Tyler? 

He leaned over to give her a welcoming kiss but she pulled away before he could, smelling the pungent stench of alcohol on his breath. _Don't you dare jump to conclusions! It's just…what else could it be? _No. Not Tyler. This was not something Tyler, football player, straight A student, EMT, would do. Or was it?

"Val?" He asked, wondering what was going on, as she hadn't kissed him.

She shook her head and got up, headed for the counter where Tyler's water bottle was. She quickly unscrewed the lid and didn't even have to bend over to get a whiff of what it was. Vodka. He really had been drinking! She couldn't figure out if she was scared or disappointed, but concluded in half a second that she was both. She glanced quickly at Hank and Jaime, who were occupied and hadn't noticed what she had.

"Um…Tyler…come with me." She ordered, grabbing the bottle off the counter and putting the cap back on.

Tyler, apparently expecting to go somewhere to make out, was more than happy when they reached the supply closet. 

When they got there, though, Val almost shut the door completely and practically yelled. "What the _hell_ do you think you've been doing?"

"What do you mean?" 

She held up the bottle, livid. "How low can you stoop?!"

"It was just an innocent drink." He defended himself despite the fact that he wasn't totally sober. 

"Not only is this stupid, unhealthy, and can get you kicked off the squad, it's also illegal! Do I need to spell that for you? That means _against the law_!"

"Val, come on, it's not like anyone's going to find out! Besides, it's not bad just this once." He grinned sloppily.

That was the last straw. She would have slapped him if better judgement hadn't dictated that she not. "Well, I did. And that was low…really _low_. This relationship is over. For good."

To be continued…LMK what you think! 


	2. Default Chapter Title

Trust Part 2:

The saga continues…will Tyler shape up? Will Val ever speak to him again?…anyway, that sounded kinda cheesy…this is the second to last part of the story (I think it's a little shorter but more intense)…and I don't own the characters…blah blah blah…you know the deal. 

___

Val didn't even wait to hear the pitiful response that came from Tyler, just turned on her heel angrily and stormed out, throwing the bottle harshly into the trash can in the hallway. The sound of the plastic against the bag echoed in her mind. The whole past ten minutes echoed in her mind, for that matter. It didn't seem at all believable and she wasn't sure it had actually happened until she stopped and thought it over. It had happened, however hard it was to imagine that Tyler, who had so much going for him, would ruin his life by starting to drink. Or was he just starting? And where did he get the alcohol in the first place? But the biggest question ran rampant through her.

Why? What reason did Tyler Connell have for draining himself in liquid death? There was nothing that came to mind immediately but her head was spinning with anger and frustration she practically ran into Alex. 

"Hello, Val." He said cheerfully, but when he looked up and saw her expression he quickly asked. "Is something wrong? You look sick." 

She rubbed her temples and answered. "No…no…I'll be fine."

"Well, take care of yourself. We don't need our best sick." He smiled and then added. "If something's wrong, please tell me."

"It's nothing, really, it's just that Tyler…" She stopped—should she really tell? Should she get Tyler busted for what he was doing? Would that help him at all? No. _She_ was going to help him.

"Tyler what?" He asked, giving her a questioning look.

"…is doing inventory for me." _Wow, that was weak. He's going to see right through this_.

Alex nodded as though he didn't believe she was saying but just said. "All right. I'll see you later."

She waved weakly and headed into the common room, but then a thought pounded through her…she'd just yelled at Tyler so hard and told him that their relationship would never work and now she was trying to find a way to…but that _was_ the thing…this _was _the real deal. She _cared_, she really cared, and there had to be something she could do. 

Val knocked lightly on the slightly open inventory closet door the next morning (she knew Tyler was in there) and heard a muffled. "Come in, Val."

"How did you know it was me?" She asked quietly as she entered to see Tyler seated, slumped, on a box against the wall. 

"I know everything about you." He said despondently. "And I know you didn't mean what you said the other day."

Val handed him a sandwich and asked. "If I answer now will you remember what I said later on today?" 

He took the sandwich shook his head with a little smile. "I'm not drunk if that's what you mean. Although I was close to it yesterday."

"All right, hear me out. I meant what I said about the drinking. It's stupid and I can't stand to see you do this to yourself…I mean, don't you know what could happen to you?" She managed to keep her voice down.

"Yes. Of course…it's just an outlet, you know? William gets me so pissed sometimes there's nothing I can do except feel so terrible that I exist to make his life miserable and because _I'm_ miserable. It's nice to drown your sorrows in a drink—all right, this sounds really, really stupid, but it's how I feel. It's a wonderful feeling to just be happy."

She shook her head and used a strong but quiet tone. "That doesn't make it right, Tyler! You'll get addicted and then you can't do anything to stop—except stop now…you could get kicked off the squad!" 

"You don't understand." He muttered.

"Oh, yes I do. I understand that you're going to consciously choose to mess up your life right now, when you're only 16. I understand that alcohol is a part of life in high school, and so are drugs, but…but…you betrayed me. I trusted you—I trusted that you could come to me for anything and me to you, that we would always stay clean. Save lives, not break them." 

"All right, fine. I'll toss it out. All of it—I mean, I only got it the other day, what harm could it have done to me in just that time? I'll be fine…I'll see you later." 

Tyler stood up and walked out, for their morning shift had ended and he was going to go home. She figured he didn't want to be bothered by her mothering. But she still sat there with an empty pit in her stomach—he hadn't sounded very sincere. He'd sounded stupid, and it was messing with her head. He was never like this. He always found another way to deal with things. He was always level headed.

"Guess I should have seen it coming." Val slowly got up, but felt a blazing hot tear dissolve down her cheek. "But why me? Why us?" She cried to the air. "I don't know what I'm going to do without you, Tyler."

The whole rest of the day went by in a trance. All Val knew was that she had to see Tyler, and fast. There must be some way to convince him how much of a dork he was being. By seven, it was dark, but she knew where she would find him…the basketball court. He rarely spent his free time at home. 

When she got there, she watched him silently (he'd been there, as she'd known) for a moment before he noticed her. Tyler was shooting sloppily and missing most of his shots. He walked with a swagger and he barely seemed able to control the ball he was so comfortable with. He was drunk. She knew it—and the bottle (this time not disguised, just a flat out beer bottle) sitting by the pole of the hoop on the ground was a little clue. 

"Tyler Connell," Val began with an edgy yell to her voice and rushed over to him, apparently startling him. Before he could say anything, not that it would be important if he did since it would probably be something stupid, she cried out to him. "You promised! You promised! I trusted you…I really did! But I guess I was wrong…about everything!" 

She ran over and grabbed the bottle and smashed it up against the metal pole with all her might, despite the fact that the flying shards—there was no liquid, it was empty—bounced back and hit her. When they fell glinting to the ground she took her right foot and squished some of the pieces angrily. She wanted to kill them, kill every part of them until they were nothing in the vast expanse of the universe. "I trusted that you would quit! This time I'm really going to tell Alex. At least if you get kicked off the squad you'll get some help." 

"Val, wait. Come play with me…" He said droopily and bounced the ball on the dark pavement. 

The night was cold but her anger and worry had kept her warm and gave her the strength to steal the ball so that she grabbed Tyler's attention. "You know what? Grow up! Grow up, Tyler! I swear I'll never speak to you again if you don't do something in the next twenty four hours that proves to me you'll quit!" 

With all her strength, Val hurled the ball into the brick wall and turned around, hearing it when it landed on the broken glass…as she felt the same thing in her heart at that very moment. 


	3. Default Chapter Title

# Trust part 3

Well, well, well…let's see…so this is the last part, and again, I own nothing from the show…J

When Val unlocked the door to the house and pushed it open, she was greeted by only darkness—it was only eight thirty, but Brooke had a piano recital at her teacher's house and both of her parents were there. It wasn't welcoming, but this was a time that she needed to spend alone. 

She flipped on the light in the kitchen and sat down at the table and rested her head in her hands, crying. She'd told Tyler that she would let Alex know what was going on…should she? And that she would never speak to him again. For some reason, even though she knew she had been right and that her point was valid, Val felt like the lowest person on earth. What _was_ she going to do? 

The white phone on the edge of the counter by the wall caught her eye. She had to tell someone, and for a second she debated calling Caitie. But what would she understand about this? She and Tyler were like oil and water and the other girl, although not stupid, would not know what to do about him; besides, she would probably make Val feel much more depressed than she already was. And to make things worse, they started back to school in less than a week…what would happen if someone at school found out about Tyler's problem? She didn't want to imagine. She just wanted to die—everything was going wrong and it would never be right again. 

The next morning, Val stopped at the station to pick up some paperwork she'd left the day before, but as she sorted through the files, Hank handed her a note.

"Tyler stopped by for a second earlier and said to give this to you—mentioned something about 24 hours or something like that…beats me." He told her, and left a folded piece of paper and went to talk to Alex.

"Thanks," She stared at the paper for a second and thought about throwing it away, but when she went back over what Hank said she remember when she had yelled at Tyler the night before and saying that if he didn't do something that proved he was quitting in the next 24 hours she would never speak to him again. 

Slowly, Val picked up the paper as if it were going to bite her and unfolded it. It said simply

Meet me at the bench in the park. I'm sorry.

Tyler

She scrunched it up and threw it in the trash can under the desk, grabbed the files she needed and her keys, and rushed out to her car, with only one place in mind.

Tyler sat on the bench on the path in the park seeming to stare at nothing. He had a basketball on the seat beside him, and a plastic bag filled with something. She had no trouble finding him, because she knew him too well. Both of them were like that with each other, and she never wanted to lose that.

"You didn't tell Alex." He said blankly when she sat down on the bench next to him as though she didn't know him. 

"What's in the bag?" Val had no reason to respond to that, because it didn't require an answer, in her opinion. She spoke in a soft voice that she knew he could hear despite the fact that the noise of the city was loud.

Tyler opened it a little father to reveal two six packs of beer untouched and a full bottle of vodka. "Come with me." 

She followed him as he got up, bringing the bag and the basketball, and headed straight for the trashcan. Once there, he unceremoniously dumped the bottles in and turned back to her without a second thought. "I took your words to heart. I figured that if I was going to trade my life and my best friend, and best girlfriend, for a couple of drinks, I really _was_ stupid." 

A smile broadened across her face as they ambled slowly down the path. "You even remembered what I said?" 

"They hit me hard. And after the headache wore off I realized how dumb I was." He said frankly, moving closer to her.

"You know, it takes a real man to admit when he makes a mistake." She told him lovingly, and clasped his hand in hers.

"What can I say?" He laughed. "I'm just perfect." 

"Except for this little incident." 

"Right, except for this. Thank you for helping me." He looked deep into her eyes and she felt shivers down her back.

"Well, remember New Year's Eve, how we pledged our love for each other—that was the happiest moment of my life."

"You ran away from me when I kissed you, as I recall." He gave her a long look that made her laugh.

"After that. I remember feeling so wonderful and that feeling was replenished every time I saw you—I could _never_ lose that. _Ever_." She grasped his hand tighter.

"I couldn't either—and as I also recall, I promised you that this relationship would last forever, and that I never made a promise I don't keep." 

"I'm glad you don't." She giggled, sounding really silly, although she was happy this was over.

They stopped and pulled closer to each other, their lips met and Tyler kissed her with more passion than they ever had, making the blood run through her quicker than it ever had, and her heart raced like a thousand horses at a pounding gallop.

"I love you." He told her, and they continued walking, his arm around her shoulder and hers around his lower back. 

"Me, too." Then, realizing what she'd said, corrected. "Love you, I mean."

Tyler kissed her quickly again.

THE END...kinda sappy, I know, but I'm just such a mega Val/Tyler fan…


End file.
